Elder statesman Chief Dan Ulasi has related a historic incident involving Sir Ahmadu Bello and the Igbo people. CONTINUE FULL READING>>>>>
Ulasi said in an interview with AIT that Bello ran against the current Sultan’s grandfather in 1937 for the sultanate. He claimed that in spite of advice not to run, he continued and failed. In an apparent attempt to punish him, he was then charged with tax evasion before the Guzau magistrate court.
Ulasi said realizing the seriousness of the situation, Bello sought help from two Igbo friends in Guzau, who then enlisted the support of eight Igbos to raise funds for legal assistance. He said the Igbos contributed two pounds each to hire lawyers from Lagos and Onitsha to represent Bello in court, ultimately securing his release. He said this act of solidarity forged a bond between the Igbos and Bello, leading to the formation of a political alliance between the NCNC and NPC
In Ulasi’s words: “I use the case of Ahmadu Bello. In 1937 he ran for the sultanate against the grandfather of the present Sultan. They asked him not to run but he insisted and ran, and he lost. They charged him at Guzau magistrate court for not paying tax just to punish him. Whether they were serious about sending him to jail—I think he he knew they were serious, so he ran to two Igbos who were his closest friends in Guzau and those two Igbos came to Kano. As young as my father was then, he hadn’t married and was called Okonkwo Kano.
“8 Igbos organized and raised £2 each in 1937 to hire lawyers in Lagos and Onitsha and they came to magistrate court to release Ahmadu Bello. That was the beginning of the NCNC and NPC alliance. People did not know what love brought Nnamdi Azikiwe and Ahmadu Bello together, it was because of that singular act”. CONTINUE FULL READING>>>>>
